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3 COLONEL I 

1 EDWARD BUNCOMBE J 

i FIFTH NORTH CAROLINA f 

5 Continental Regiment. f 

^ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ i- 

1 HIS LIFE, MILITARY CAREER, AND DEATH WHILE A f 
J WOUNDED PRISONER IN PHILADELPHIA DUR- L 
4 ING THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. %- 

"f ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ f" 

"j ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE; NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY OF | 
"l THE CINCINNATI AT ITS MEETING HELD IN HILLS- f 

"l BOROUGH, JULY 4, 1901. f" 

J • BY L 

4 Marshall DeLancey Haywood. r 




I PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. |_ 

^|l |||I"'I1!||II"'I|||II"M||| I||M"I|||||1'HI||| ||| ||| 1|| ||| |{| i||II"rli|| I||| |||ll"ll||||l"ll||illHM|||ll"ll|||llHII||| ||||| H|IIIMl|p- 



COLONEL 

EDWARD BUNCOMBE, 

FIFTH NORTH CAROLINA 

Continental Regiment. 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

HIS LIFE, MILITARY CAREER, AND DEATH WHILE A 
WOUNDED PRISONER IN PHILADELPHIA DUR- 
ING THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY OF 
THE CINCINNATI AT ITS MEETING HELD IN HILLS- 
BOROUGH, JULY 4, 1901 



Marshall DeLancey Haywood. 




PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. 



RALEIGH: 

ALFORD, BYNUM & CHRISTOPHERS, PRINTERS, 

1901. 



r^^ 



^m N'04 



ADDRESS, 



Mk. President and Gentlemen of the Society: 

It is no small privilege which the North Carolina 
Society of the Cincinnati enjoys when it meets in this 
ancient Revolutionary capital, for here our organiza- 
tion was first brought into being. The year of grace 
1783, which is the date of its birth, was one of mingled 
joy and depression to the people of America. The 
war, it is true, had been fought to a successful close; 
and, by a treaty wherein they were separately speci- 
fied. King George had acknowledged the thirteen colo- 
nies to be "free, sovereign, and independent States." 
But how changed was the order of things! The deso- 
lation following in the wake of war was scarcely less 
terrible than war itself, and no State had made greater 
sacrifices for the cause of liberty than North Carolina. 
Under daring partisan leaders at home, under Wash- 
ington in the north, and Greene in the south, her sons 
had in countless fights lengthened the list of killed 
and wounded, while those who were spared came home 
to prove that — 

" Peace hath her victories 
No less renown 'd than war." 

Yet many, so many, there were of the brave defend- 
ers of America who did not return, and their mortal 
remains still rest on and about the old battlefields 
made memorable by their valor. To this class be- 
longed the good and gallant officer of whom I shall 
speak today. 

Colonel Edward Buncombe, of Buncombe Hall, 
in the Colony of North Carolina, was born in the year 
1742, on the Island of St. Christopher, sometimes 



called St. Kitt's, which is one of the Leeward group 
in the AVest Indies. The reoister of St. Ann's Parish, 
in the above island, shows that: ''Edward, son of 
Thomas and Esther Buncombe," w^as baptized on the 
23d of Sei>tember in the above year. 

Thomas Buncombe, the father of Edward, was a 
gentleman of English l)irth and ancestry, and died in 
the Fall of 1747. He had four children: John, Edward 
(of whom this sketch treats), Sarah, who married first 
a Mr. Beach and then a Mr. Humbergen, and Ann, 
who married a Mr. Caines. 

Joseph Buncombe, a brother of Thomas, and hence 
an uncle of Edward, lived for a time in North Caro- 
lina and man-ied Ann, a daughter of George Durant; 
but he is said to have died while absent from the col- 
ony on a visit to relatives. When in North Carolina, 
his home Avas in what is now the county of Washing- 
ton (then a part of Tyrrell), where he owned a valuable 
estate. He probably died childless, for his property 
was bequeathed by him to his nephew. The latter 
upon viewing the lands in Tyrrell, was so well pleased 
with them tliat he disposed of his West Indian pos- 
sessions and settled permanently in North Carolina 
about the year 1768. Shortly after fhis, the mansion 
known as Buncombe Hall was erected on the site of 
his uncle's former residence. 

Buncombe Hall lay about twelve miles south of 
Edenton, across Albemarle Sound.- At present a small 
hamlet called Chesson, in Washington County, marks 
the place where it stood. It was famed throughout 
the colony as a seat of boundless hospitality. Over 
an arched gateway, through which the grounds were 
entered, was inscribed the couplet 



" Welcome all, 
To Buncombe Hall.' 



Not only North Carolinians, bnt travellers in gen- 
eral, frequently sought shelter there (for it was on a 
road largely used), and a warm reception awaited each 
visitor. In 1778, when Josiah Qnincey, of Massachu- 
setts, was returning from a southern four, he made 
this entry in his Diary,* while at New Bern, on the 
2d of April: "Judge Howard waited upon me in the 
evening wdth recommendatory letters to Colonel 
Palmer of Bath, and Colonel Buncombe of Tyrrell 
County." Referring to April 5, he says : "Break- 
fasted with Colonel Buncombe who waited upon me 
to Edenton Sound, and gave me letters to his friends 
there. Spent this and the next day in crossing Albe- 
marle Sound and in dining and conversing in com- 
pany with the most celebrated lawyers of Edenton." 

Not long after his arrival in North Carolina, Colonel 
Buncombe was made a magistrate, and served as one 
of the Justices of the Inferior Court of Tyrrell County. 
He seems to have been very punctual in the discharge 
of his official duties ; for, in a letter written on Novem- 
ber 29, 1771, by Thomas Jones to Sir Nathaniel Dukin- 
lield, a member of the Governor's Council, the former 
says says that at a recent court Colonel Buncombe 
and John McKildoe were the only members present, f 
Mr. Jones adds: " The people attended with becoming 
decency and patience but at length grew clamorous, 
damn'd the absent Justices (I think w^ith propriety), 
and then prevailed upon McKildoe to adjourn court." 

In August, 1892, the centennial of Buncombe County, 
North Carolina, was celebrated at Asheville, the coun- 
ty-seat. At that time a sketch of Colonel Buncombe, 
written by one of his descendants, Mrs. Walter H. 
Rogers (born Goelet), of New Orleans, appeared in the 



* Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincey, Jun., liy his son Josiah Quincey, pp. 
120, 121. 

T Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. IX., p. 60. 



Ashemlle Citizen, and from it we extract the following 
concerning his residence : ''Buncombe Hall, like its 
founder, has passed away. It remained in the family 
till after the last war. Ere we quit the subject, let me 
describe this historic spot. The main building, L shape, 
contained eight large rooms, and a four-room basement 
under the whole, which served as store-rooms and a 
kitchen. The brick used in the building was brought 
from England. All necessary out-houses, including 
offices, were upon the premises. The yard was filled 
on one side with the most beautiful flowers and ever- 
greens ; on the other, with fine trees and velvety 
grass. To the south, stretched away a large peach 
and apple orchard — the whole surrounded by broad 
fields under cultivation, set in a back-ground of for- 
ests Here the contemplative mind might revel m 
historic thought. The old hall, with its lofty ceilings, 
high oak panels, and chimney casings, seemed to whis- 
per secrets of revolutionary times. Over the door of 
the dining-room hung the coat-of-arms of the Goelet 
family (a^-ising swan on a helmet); and, on the walls, 
were family portraits of Colonel Buncombe, his sister 
Mrs. Caines and her little daughter.* On a closet door 
still remained traces of sealing wax, used by the Col- 
onel in sealing up his silver plate and valuables when 
he went to the war — vain precaution! His agent, left 
in charge, turned Tory, robbed him of not only the 
contents of this closet, but sold off his slaves and val- 
uable timber and then decamped. 

"Soon after the fall of Roanoke Island, the Federal 
soldiers took possession of Plymouth. Then Bun- 
combe Hall fell a prey to them, as Dr. Edward Bun- 
combe Haughton, its owner, was fighting on the Con- 
federate side. He returned after the war, bankrupt 

* These portraits were afterwards destroyed in a fire w^e" H.e residence of Dr. 
Edward H. Goelet. of GDldsborough, N. C. was burned -M. DeL. H. 



in purse, as all good Southerners were, and the old 
hall was sold to a Connecticut carpet-bagger. It could 
even then have been restored to its former greatness, 
but he razed it to the ground and did not leave a 
brick standing. It passed, again, out of his posses- 
sion. The Southern Goelets, all descendants of Colo- 
nel Buncombe, were left too poor by the war to rescue 
his home from annihilation ; and so passed away, and 
was wantonly destroyed. Buncombe Hall." 

Before proceeding with my narrative, justice requires 
that acknowledgement be made to Mrs. Rogers, not 
only for the above quoted passages, but also for the 
letters hereinafter given, and other items relative to 
the family connection of her distinguished ancestor. 

There are now nine localities in the United States 
called Buncombe, most (if not all) of which derive the 
name either directly or indirectly from Colonel Bun- 
combe. They are : Buncombe County, North Caro- 
lina ; Buncombe, in Johnson County, Illinois ; Bun- 
combe, in Dubuque County, Iowa — and Buncombe 
Township, in Sioux County, in the same State ; Bun- 
combe, in Union County, Mississippi ; Buncombe, in 
Lafayette County, Wisconsin ; Buncombe Ridge, in 
Lawrence County, Arkansas ; Buncombe, in Knott 
County, Kentucky; and Buncombe, in Jackson County, 
Oregon. 

The word ''buncombe" — which dictionaries give as 
signifying a bombastic utterance, usually employed 
in windy harangues to gain popular favor — had its 
origin through the following circumstance : In the 
Congress of the United States, between the years 1817 
and 1823, the mountain district of North Carolina was 
represented by the Honorable Felix Walker many of 
whose constituents were denizens of the now famous 
county of Buncombe, One day, as Mr. Walker sat 
]3ondering over his past political career, he remem- 



bered that clnrinff that session he had made very few 
speeches — and this, by the way, was almost as rare a 
fault with Congressmen in those days as it is now. So 
he decided to speak; he did speak; he spoke at con- 
siderable length ; and he didn't have anything par- 
ticular to say, but he kept on talking, nevertheless. 
\nd when, at last, patience had ceased to be a virtue, 
and some of his long-suffering colleagues were begm- 
nincr to leave the hall, he told the more polite members 
who remained that they might go, too, if they wished, 
for he intended to have his remarks published and 
sent to the home people, as the speech was not intended 
for the House, but only for Buncomhe! 

But to return to Colonel Edward Buncombe. He 
received his education in Great Britain ; and, while 
living in St. Christopher, was united in marriage 
(AprFl 10, 1766,) with Elizabeth Dawson Taylor, who 
accompanied him' to North Carolina, but died just 
prior to the outbreak of the Revolution. She and 
her son Thomas are buried under St. Paurs Church, 
at Edenton. The children of Colonel Buncombe by 
his marriage with Miss Taylor were: 

I Elizabeth Taylor Buncombe, born on the Island 
of St Christopher, March 11, 1767, who was brought 
when an infant to North Carolina. Her education 
was received in New York and New Jersey, under the 
direction of Abraham Lott. She married John Goelet 
of New York (afterwards of North Carolina), and left 
numerous descendants. 

11. Thomas Buncombe, born in North Carolina, 
Februarv 3, 1769, who died young. 

Ill Hester Ann Buncombe, born April io, 17 /i, 
who married John Clark, of Bertie County, North 
Carolina, and had two children : Thomas Clark, and 



9 



Ann Booth Pollock Clark (wife of John Cox).* Both 
Thomas Clark and his sister Mrs. Cox died without 
issue. 

From the above it will be seen that the only de- 
scendants now living of Colonel Buncombe are through 
his eldest daughter who married John Goelet, of New 
York. Mr. Goelet w^as of Huguenot descent, born in 
1759, on the date of the fall of Quebec, and himself 
saw service in the Revolution. After the war was over 
and he had married Miss Buncombe, he removed with 
his wife (about 1791) to Buncombe Hall, and died there 
in the ninety-fifth year of his age, October, 1853. 

In the sketch by Mrs. Rogers, heretofore quoted, 
she says: "With the death of Colonel Buncombe, 
the name died in this country, though his patriotic 
spirit survived, he having eight great-grandsons who 
volunteered in the Confederate army, one of whom, 
John Buncombe Goelet, died on Malvern Hill in 
defence of Richmond, A'^irginia. He was color-bearer 
of the Third Alabama Regiment, and belonged to 
Company A, Mobile Cadets." 

Prior to the Revolution, Colonel Buncombe held a 
commission in the military establishment of the 
colony. He commanded a regiment of the provincial 
trooj)S of North Carolina, in the county of Tyrrell. f 
Like nearly all of the better element of North Caro- 
linians — such men as Robert Howe, Richard Caswell, 
Francis Nash, Thomas Polk, Alexander Lillington, 
Griffith Rutherford, and others who afterwards won 
fame in the Revolution — he used every effort to aid 
Governor Tryon in suppressing the excesses and riots 
of the Regulators, and received the official thanks of 



* Mrs. Ann Booth Pollock Cox is interred in the old burial ground of St. Paul's 
Church, Bdenton, N. O. On her monument is an elaborate inscription relative to 
the military record of her grandfather Colonel Buncombe. 

iOolonial Records of N. C, Vol. VIII, pp. 70.5, 707. 



10 



His Excellency for the "truly public spirit" displayed 
by him in the prosecution of this work. He did not, 
however personally participate in the Alamance cam- 
paign, as the regiments of his section of the colony 
were not called into active service. 

In religion, Colonel Buncombe was a member of the 
Church of England, and, when he left the West Indies, 
a chaplain is said to have accompanied his household 
to North Carolina. 

In the several years preceding the outbreak of the 
Revolution, the patriots of North Carolina were boldly 
pre] aring for any emergency which might arise. As 
early as April 26, 1774, William Hooper had asserted 
in a letter addressed to Judge Iredell, that the colonies 
were "striding fast to independence, and ere long 
would build an empire upon the ruins of Great Britain; 
would adopt its constitution purged of its impurities, 
and from an experience of its defects guard against 
those evils which had wasted its vigor and brought it 
to an untimely end."* These were troublous times — 
times calling for men of high purpose and courageous 
bearing, who, in the face of King, Parliament and 
Royal Governor, would boldly contend for the rights 
which were as dear to them as to the peo^ile of Eng- 
land. Nor was courage alone sufficient to cope with 
King George's representatives in Carolina. Political 
dexterity played no small part in the controversies of 
that day. Some years prior to the time of which we 
treat, when the British Parliament passed the Stamj) 
Act, more resistance, and armed resistance, too, was 
encountered in North Carolina than anywhere else. 
But no resistance came from the Assembly, for Gov 
ernor Try on prorogued that body to prevent official 
action. This prorogation also prevented the Assembly 
from later electing delegates to what is known as the 



•Defence of Nortli Carolina, by Jo. Seawell Jones, j). 314. 



11 



Stamp Act Congress. Tryon's trickery worked so 
well tliat his successor, Governor Josiali Martin, 
decided to play a similar game in 1774. A controversy 
arising over the laws establishing courts in the colony, 
and the King's instructions being at variance with the 
ideas of the Assembly, that body refused to yield; and 
Governor Martin thereupon put a stop to proceedings 
by proroguing it. He also determined not to re-con- 
vene it until the members were more inclined to obey 
the royal will. This latter purpose being divulged 
by the governor's private secretary to John Harvey, 
that bold statesman determined that an independent 
assembly, or convention, should be called. He left 
New Bern, the seat of government, and, on the third 
of April, discussed the matter with Willie Jones. 
The night following found him at Buncombe Hall, in 
the county of Tyrrell. At this place Mr. Harvey 
confided his plan to Samuel Johnston and Colonel 
Buncombe.* These notables were impressed with the 
gravity of the situation, and the night was far spent 
ere their consultation came to an end. Referring to 
this conference, in his History of North Carolina, t 
Moore says: "Buncombe was impulsive and impres- 
sionable, but Johnston was the embodiment of cau- 
tion and deliberation. He was full of determination 
to resist Lord North's measures, but he feared the 
eifects of too much popular power. These eminent 
men, with Hooper, John Ashe, Caswell, Person, and 
others, at once acceded to Harvey's proposition, and 
the ball of the Revolution was put in motion." 

Despite Governor Martin's frantic proclamation for- 
bidding its meeting, the independent convention 
gathered in New Bern on the 25th of August, 1774. :|: 



*Defenee of North Carolina, by Jo. Seawell Jones, p. 124. 
+Vol. I., p. 163. 
t Colonial Records of N. C, Vol. IX., p. lOJil. 



12 



No assembly of its kind had ever before convened in 
America. It was followed by others of like character. 
Delegates to the Continental Congress were elected. 
The breach Avith Great Britain became wider, and 
finally, as a last resort, independence was declared. 
And it may be well jnst here to observe that North 
Carolina was the very first colony to authorize a 
national declaration of inde]3endence, when in Ihe 
Provincial or State Congress at Halifax on April 12, 
1776, Cornelius Harnett submitted a committee rej^ort 
(which was unanimously adopted), setting forth a 
resolution : "that the delegates for this colony in the 
Continental Congress be impowered to concur with the 
delegates of the other colonies in declaring indepen- 
dency ^ This was more than a month before the pas- 
sage of the famous Virginia resolutions; and even those 
who question the genuineness of the Mecklenburg 
Declaration of Independence have never attempted 
to disprove the authenticity of this resolution adopted 
by the Provincial Congress at Halifax. So North 
Carolina will ever claim the proud distinction of hav- 
ing been first to move for independence, as she was also 
first to offer resistance to the Stamp Act. The pream- 
ble to the above resolve in favor of independence is a 
masterly vindication of the course pursued by the 
colonies, and should be read of all men.* 

As well may be supj)0sed, a man of Colonel Bun- 
combe's spirit and patriotism was not the person to hold 
back from participation in a war, however perilous, 
which he himself had been instrumental in bringing 
about. On September 9, 1775, lie was elected Colonel 
of the militia forces of Tyrrell Countyf by the Provin- 
cial Congress of North Carolina, then in session at 



*For full text of preamble and resolutions, see Colonial Records of N. C, Vol. 
X., p. 512; Defence of North Carolina, by Jo. Seawell Jones, p. 251. 
i Colonial Records of N. C. Vol. X,, p. 20."). 



13 



Halifax. He fulfilled the duties of this 2:)osition for 
about seven months, and, on the 17th of April, 1776, 
was transferred to the regular service, being made 
Colonel of the Fifth Regiment of North Carolina 
troops in the Continental Line.* During the period 
intervening between its organization and the time 
when ordered to the field, the Fifth Regiment was 
maintained at his private expense. On May 7, 1776, 
the appointment of Colonel Buncombe was confirmed 
by the Continental Congress,! and his regiment was 
assigned to General Francis Nash's brigade This 
brigade was made up at Wilmington, North Carolina, 
in the Summer of 1776, and remained in that vicinity 
till November of the same year. Having been ordered 
to join Washington's army, then operating in the 
north. General Nash and his troops set out from Wil- 
mington about the 15th of November, and, on reach- 
ing the town of Halifax, were ordered back south, the 
object being to keep the British from entering Georgia 
by way of St. Augustine. No sooner, however, had 
Charleston been reached, than orders were again coun- 
termanded. Thereupon the brigade marched to Had- 
drell's Point, opposite Fort Sullivan, South Carolina, 
at which place it remained in the forces which were 
there opj)Osing the operations of Sir Henry Clinton. 
In March, 1777, orders were again given the North Car- 
olina brigade to join Washington. Moving up through 
North Carolina and Virginia, and crossing the Po- 
tomac near Alexandria, the main army was finally 
reached on the Jersey side of the Delaware River, at 
Middlebrook. The accession of these brave North 
Carolinians was gladly hailed by Washington, and 
they were given a thundering welcome in the shape of 



* Colonial Records of N. C, Vol. X., p. 520. 

+ American Archives (4th Series), Vol. V., p. 1698. 



14 

"a salutation of thirteen cannon, each fired thirteen 
times."* 

At Alexandria, in the latter part of May, the march 
of Nash's brigade had been delayed to inoculate the 
troops against small-pox. 

Early in July, the North Carolinians, together with 
the other troops around Philadelphia, were detailed 
to complete the fortifications on the Delaware River. f 

On the 14th of August, 1777, while the Continental 
forces were in camp at Trenton, we find Colonel Bun- 
combe and the other field-officers of Nash's brigade 
uniting in a protest against a Pennsylvanian, Colonel 
Edward Hand, being made a brigadier-general to com- 
mand North Carolina troops, vice General James 
Moore, who had recently died.+ While not question- 
ing Colonel Hand's merit, they declared that the ap- 
pointment of any outsider would be a "reflection on 
North Carolina and a stab at military honour through- 
out the continent in general." The memorial also 
contained some rather unpleasant references to Thomas 
Burke (then a delegate from North Carolina in the 
Continental Congress), and charged him with neglect- 
ing the interests of the State he represented to advance 
one of his own countrymen — he and Hand both being 
natives of Ireland. Burke was so enraged thereby 
that he declared, referring to the signers of the pro- 
test: "Their behaviour in this instance has determined 
me to forego all particular attention to them. I hope 
they will so distinguish themselves that their merit 
alone will be suflicient for their promotion, without 
standing in need of any assistance which I could give." 
Whether Doctor Burke did forego all particular at- 

*This account of the movements of Nash's briRade is partly from narrative of 
Hugh McDonald in old series of North Carolina University Magazine U853-'5(> 
II.,466-i70; IV.. 158-162; V.. 2i^l. 208-211, 360-36:5). and partly from State Records. 

i State Records of N. C. Vol. XI., p. 738. 

X State Records of N. 0., Vol. XI., pp. mi. 7.^)0. 



15 



tention to the North Carolinians does not appear, 
but he certainly succeeded in his efforts to secure the 
promotion of Hand, who, it is a pleasure to add, ren- 
dered long and honorable service during the war, and 
held a major-general's commission in the regular army 
after the return of peace. 

On the 11th day of September, 1777, was fought the 
battle of Brandy wine, and here Colonel Buncombe's 
regiment was actively engaged. In this conflict, the 
North Carolina brigade and Greene's division were 
ranged in the centre of the American Army.* Being 
ordered to support the right wing (then sorely pressed), 
their absence left the troops under General Wayne to 
cope alone wdth a vastly superior force of the enemy. 
After a brave and bloody resistance, Wayne was 
forced to retire, and the day was lost. 

After his reverses at Brandy wine, the never-despair- 
ing Washington drew together his forces and prepared 
again to attack. He was, in truth, a leader whom no 
disaster could appall. 

The next scene of action was at Germantowm, Penn- 
sylvania. This fight occurred on the 4th of October, 
and was destined to be Colonel Buncombe's last battle, 
for there he received the wound which ultimately 
caused his death while a prisoner in the hands of the 
British. The brigade of North Carolinians was selec- 
ted by the commander-in-chief to act as a part of the 
reserve corps at Germantown, but it may be questioned 
if it would have suffered more terribly if placed in the 
van. The brave General Nash, with his thigh shat- 
tered by a solid shot,t and fainting from the loss of 
blood, was borne to a near-by house and lingered only 

* state Records of N. C Vol. XI. page 621. 

+ Moore's History (I., 243, note') states upon the authority of my father, the late 
Dr. Richard B. Haywood, that Col. William Polk said that Gen. Nash received his 
mortal wound from a shot througli the eyes. That Col. Polk also made this state- 
ment to persons other than Dr. Haywood appears in Dr. W. M. Polk's biography 
of Bishop Polk (I . 27), which quotes Col. Polk as as saying Nash " was blind,"' and 
almost in syncope from loss of blood. Yet, strange as it may seem, thougli official 



16 



three days. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Irwin of Bun- 
combe's regiment (the Fifth), Captain Jacob Turner 
of the Third, and Lieutenant John McCann of the 
Sixth North Carolina, lay dead on the field. Major 
William Polk of the Ninth, I'eceived a shot in the 
face, which, for a time, deprived him of the power 
of speech. Captain John Armstrong of the Second, 
Lieutenant Joshua Hadley of the Sixth, and Ensign 
John Daves of the Second, were also among the 
wounded, as were doubtless many others, of whom, 
unfortunately, we have now no record. 

And the privates ! How many of those forgotten 
heroes shed their blood and gave up their lives, as 
freely as did the officers, will never be known. May 
their devotion be rewarded in a better world. 

" 'Tis to the virtue of such men, man owes 

His portion in the good that heaven bestows ; 
And when recording history displays 

Feats of renown, though wrought in ancient days — 
Tells of a few stout hearts that fouglit, and died, 

Where duty placed them, at their country's side — 
The man that is not moved with what he reads. 

That takes not fire at their heroic deeds, 
Unworthy of the blessings of the brave. 

Is base in kind, and born to be a slave." 

When struck down on the field of Germantown, 
Colonel Buncombe was left for dead by the retreating 



records show he was himself present and severely wounded at Germantown, Ool. 
Folk was mistaken in this, as will now be shown. John Penn, writingfrom near the 
battlefield (on Oot. 10th) only three days after Nash's death, says : " Poor General 
Nash was killed by a cannon ball, with his horse." .\n obituary published in tlie 
North Carolina G azettk. less than a month later (Oct. .'ilst), states : " The winged 
Messenger of Death, a cannon ball, * * * * struck him on the thigh, tore his 
bodj- in a most dreadful manner, and killed his horse under him." In the legisla- 
tive proceedings in honor of Gen. Nash (Nov. 10th), less than si.K weeks after his 
deatli, it ai)pears that he " received a wound from a cannon ball; and, after lan- 
guishing some days. * * * * closed his useful life." See State Records of Nortli 
Carolina, Vol. XI., pp. (549, 789; Ibid., Vol. XII., p. 279. Pennsylvania accounts 
also say Nash was killed by a cannon ball which struck him on the thigh. The 
statement by Col. Polk was made when he was a very old man, fifty years or more 
after the battle; hence Iiis mistake may have been caused by confusing Gen. Nash 
witli .some other wounded officer at Germantown who may have been shottlirough 
the eyes. Col. Polk's second wife was a sister of Dr. Haywood's mother. 



17 



Americans and lay where he fell until the next day, 
when a British officer recognized him as an old school- 
mate and had him removed to Philadelphia. There he 
was paroled within the city limits. His wound at first 
yielded to treatment, and it was thought he would 
recover. But as life dragged on, he realized that the 
weakened state of his constitution could not longer 
withstand continued privation. Beingingreat financial 
straits, and his physical condition growing worse day 
by day, he at last applied to Sir William Howe, the 
British commandant of Philadelphia, for leave to go as 
a paroled prisoner either to England or to North Caro- 
lina ; but, if this request was ever granted, he did not 
avail himself of the privilege. Fearing that the mo- 
tives which prompted his application had been miscon- 
strued, he addressed to General Washington a letter, 
the original of which is now in possession of the Cloelet 
family, Washington having returned it to one of that 
connection, after the Revolution, as a memorial of its 
brave author. Following is the communication in 
full : 

Sir, 

As I deem myself accountable to you. as my General, for every part 
of my conduct, permit this letter to speak what in person I cannot 
deliver. 

Distressed I have been, repeatedly soliciting a supply of money 
from camp, yet hitherto I have not been obliged. I never was accus- 
tomed to adversity. Let the feelings of Your Excellency's heart 
speak for me. 

Tl is true I have my failings. Human nature will operate no perfec- 
tion. But, as an officer, have I in any shape or respect disgraced my 
regiment? Have I not been anxious to fight for America? Can one 
of Your Excellency's officers accuse me of cowardice? 

Prompted by my distress, I was inevitably compelled to apply to 
His Excellency General Sir William Howe either for a parole to the 
southward or te Britain. Here I cannot command hard money ; 
there I can. 

The exigency of my case, I am persuaded, will point out the expe- 
diency of my adopted measure. I request that you will not think my 



18 



departure from America a desertion of it. Always amenable to my 
General's call, in six months I shall be ready to obey your orders if 
you think proper to have me exchanged. 
I have the honor to be, with sincerity, Your Excellency's 
Very respectful and obed't serv't, 

E. Buncombe. 
To 

His Excellency 

General Washington, 

Commander-in-Chief 

of the Forces of the United Colonies. 

The unfortunate captive, by whom this letter was 
written, never lived to enjoy the freedom he so much 
loved. He was, at times, addicted to somnambulism; 
and about the middle of May, 1778, while walking in 
his sleep, fell down a tliglit of stairs. This accident 
caused his wound to open afresh; and, before assis- 
tance could avail, he bled to death. 

Thus passed the spirit of Edward Buncombe, sol- 
dier and gentleman — 

" Than whom, knight 
Was never dubbed, more bold in fight ; 
Nor, when froin war and armor free, 
More famed for stately courtesy." 

And when they buried him, an entry was made on 
the parish-register of Christ Church, Pliiladelx)hia, 
noting the interment of Cornelius Buncombe; while 
many North Carolina historians, in later years, have 
given his lirst name as Richard! This consideration 
for his memory brings to mind Byron's remark on 
reading of the death, at Waterloo, of an old college- 
mate: "There is fame! A man is killed. His name 
is Grose, and they print it Grove." 

The death of Colonel Buncombe occurred at the 
house of a Mrs. Kendall. This we learn from a letter 
written on July 22, 1778, by Thomas Franklin, a Phil- 



19 



adelphia Quaker, to General Benedict Arnold (then 
in the American service), giving a list of Buncombe's 
effects, "left in ye hands of ye widow Edy Kendall, 
where he lodged last and died." 

During Colonel Buncombe's service in the army, he 
was accompanied by a faithful slave, Charles, and to 
this negro he bequeathed freedom. The following 
reference to him is found in a letter from the Reverend 
Adam Boyd, Brigade-Chaplain in the North Carolina 
Line, dated in camx3, at White Plains, New York, 
August 24, 1778: " Charles, I believe is entitled to his 
freedom. The Colonel has often been heard to say he 
should not serve anyone after his death; and some of 
his officers have heard him say he had, in his will, 
ordered him his freedom. A law of our State forbids 
such emancipation without the consent of the court 
of that county in which the master usually resides. 
But an apx^eal to that law in this case I do not think 
would be right, because it would defeat the testator's 
intention, which I think should be held sacred. Though 
I think it would be easy for his heirs, should they 
avail themselves of the law, to enslave Charles for life, 
I hoj)e such a thing will not be attempted. The prin- 
cipal object of this law was to prevent the discharge 
of slaves that were not able to earn their living — a 
cruel practice which had scandalously prevailed to 
avoid paying taxes, from which old age or other in- 
firmities do not exempt slaves." The will, by which 
Charles was supposed to be emancipated, could not 
be found among Colonel Buncombe's papers, but the 
negro was allowed to go free in deference to his late 
owner's expressed wish. The only will found was one 
which had been made before the war. 

The spot where Colonel Buncombe lies bnried is not 
marked, but it is somewhere within the "additional 
church-yard" of the parish of Christ Church, on the 



20 



corner of Arch and Fifth Streets, Philadelphia. In 
this enclosure are also deposited the remains of Ben- 
jamin Franklin, and other patriots; while not many 
miles off sleep Nash, Irwin, Turner, McCann, and 
their brave comrades, who counted not life above lib- 
erty. And North Carolina should little grieve that 
her sons are left on the soil of Pennsylvania. There 
they fell, fighting for the common cause of America; 
there let them rest. 

"The neighing troop, the flashing blade, 

The bugle's stirring blast, 
The charge, the dreadful cannonade, 

The din and shout are past ; 
Nor war's wild note nor glory's peal 

Shall thrill with fierce delight 
Those breasts that nevermore may feel 

The rapture of the fight." 

As a grateful tribute to the memory of Colonel Bun- 
combe, the General Assembly of North Carolina, at 
its session of 1791, created a new county just westward 
of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and called it in his 
honor. This is a monument which will stand when 
the proudest memorials of our day have become mis- 
shapen masses of stone. For ages it will tell of the 
brave soldier who fought for his country's freedom 
and now sleeps in a forgotten grave, awaiting the last 
summons Avhen the earth and the sea shall give up 
their dead. Peaceful be his rest! — and may genera- 
tions yet to come draw inspiration from the life he led. 



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1 TRRflRY OF CONGRESS 

!■!!. 

011 800 58^ ^ ^ 



